Literary Terms
Catastrophe:
The final scene of a tragedy in which the action ends with
the death of the hero and other characters. Catastrophe takes place in the last
scene of King Lear in which all the important characters— King Lear, Cordelia,
Regan, Goneril, Edmund and Gloucester—die. In Othello it occurs when Othello
kills Desdemona and then kills himself. The catastrophe of Hamlet is in the
death of Hamlet (the hero), Gertrude (the Queen), Claudius (the present King)
and Laertes (son to Polonius). Catastrophe is the tragic outcome of a tragedy.
Literary Terms : Blank Verse,Aphorism,Archaism, Assonance
Literary Terms : Blank Verse,Aphorism,Archaism, Assonance
Catharsis:
The purgation or
purification of pity and fear. A dramatic
presentation of suffering and defeat arouses pity and fear in the
spectators to such an extent that a spectator, after watching such scenes,
feels relieved of those emotions as after storm comes calmness and serenity.
Chiasmus:
The inversion in the order of words or phrases when repeated.
It is used to make the meaning more impressive. Example:
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,"
(Keats: "Ode on a Grecian Urn")
Or, "Fair is
foul, and foul is fair;"
Chorus:
Chorus is a group of performers in a play who comment on the
action and provide mood and atmosphere for it. Milton uses such a chorus in
Samson Agonistes. The number of persons in a chorus may be reduced from a group to a single person;
such a chorus is usually called single chorus. The Fool in King Lear is an
example of a single chorus.
Classic:
A piece of literature which has, for its excellence, lived
through out the history. As for example, Paradise Lost . The term is also used
to mean all the literary products of Greece and Rome. Its adjective is
classical which refers to Greek and Roman literature or any literature that possesses the qualities
of Greek and Roman literature.
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